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menshevixen's review
4.0
Smart, sexy, and undeniably topical, Rogue Acts emphasizes the many forms resistance can take in the world we're helping shape. Though romance provides the basis for each story, acts of resistance and solidarity are the connective tissue between tales of Net neutrality, community preservation, and education. Ruby Lang and Olivia Dade's stories were two stand-outs for me, both beautifully balanced between sexy, heartfelt romance and true-to-life concerns. It's always a joy to see queer pairings, realistic bodies, and middle-aged relationships on the page. From podcasting and documentaries to politicians and healthcare, there's sure to be something for every reader in this collection!
timitra's review
3.0
Rated 3.5 Stars
Rogue Acts is a collection of short stories that deals with activism and resistance among other issues that are very relevant to what's happening in the world today. I enjoyed reading them all especially the way love grew in the midst of such adversity. I recommend to those who love romance with a political slant.
ARC provided by author in exchange for a honest review
Rogue Acts is a collection of short stories that deals with activism and resistance among other issues that are very relevant to what's happening in the world today. I enjoyed reading them all especially the way love grew in the midst of such adversity. I recommend to those who love romance with a political slant.
ARC provided by author in exchange for a honest review
turtleberry's review
4.0
Great collection
This was an awesome collection of stories. The last one was so awkwardly cute it gets 4 stars.
I enjoyed each of the stories a lot.
This was an awesome collection of stories. The last one was so awkwardly cute it gets 4 stars.
I enjoyed each of the stories a lot.
loveinpanels's review
3.0
This, like any anthology, is uneven. Four of the stories really resonated with me, three of them didn’t. So I’m giving it 3 stars as an average. I did a livetweet if you want to read more: https://twitter.com/cerestheories/status/954865062833016832
goodbyepuckpie's review
Really liked Olivia Dade's Cover Me (content warning: parental death and mourning, cancer) and thought it was a beautiful and nuanced sweet romance with a good heart; it was moving without veering into treacle-y and both protagonists were great. I liked getting to see slightly older than average romance novel characters here, too.
Also enjoyed Ruby Lang's the Long Run - I really liked this one as well; great sense of place and very sympathetic characters.
Ainsley Booth's Personal Audition was a neat f/f romance; I think it hit the beats it needed to really well and both characters were great. Also, I don't know the standup scene at all, but it felt very convincingly drawn, and having the POV character's (very short) act be all explicitly in text was really effective and did some great character work too.
Molly O'Keefe's Make You Mine was solidly readable and well composed m/f (and boy was Jay relatable with the whole punching a fascist sexist dbag bit).
I struggled with Never Again by Stacey Agdern--the Jewish rep was really good to see, and seemed (to me as a non-Jewish person; I'm very happy to be informed better by Jewish friends) to be well done. I really liked how the characters' faith tied into the theme of the book so explicitly (and the superhero nods were a good example of how to make a reference that's knowing/clear but also not going to throw a reader out of the story), but it was jarring every time to see the name the clearly-an-actual-hockey-fan writer had given the president. (And believe me, I am not a fan of that dude's team. It just left a bad taste in my mouth to use an easily recognisable sports rivalry figure's name for a deeply and unquestionably evil person.)
I tapped out on Andie Christopher's Brand New Bike because the tone was just not my thing at all; fans of a particular media empire may appreciate it more.
His Neighbour's Education by Jane Lee Blair I also struggled with a bit--it was solidly written and I liked the importance of their Christian faith to the characters; that all made sense for motivation and characterisation, but it was also tipped more towards a tone I'm not into and was really not for me.
(Also, I think I know what the author was trying to get at from a characterisation point of view, and there are ways to express that which are not offensive, but considering the way that the lack of separation of Church and State is being used to harm people in the USA right now, having your POV character state that she "wants to punch people who say there's no prayer in schools" was, uh, a poor reading of the room.)
Also enjoyed Ruby Lang's the Long Run - I really liked this one as well; great sense of place and very sympathetic characters.
Ainsley Booth's Personal Audition was a neat f/f romance; I think it hit the beats it needed to really well and both characters were great. Also, I don't know the standup scene at all, but it felt very convincingly drawn, and having the POV character's (very short) act be all explicitly in text was really effective and did some great character work too.
Molly O'Keefe's Make You Mine was solidly readable and well composed m/f (and boy was Jay relatable with the whole punching a fascist sexist dbag bit).
I struggled with Never Again by Stacey Agdern--the Jewish rep was really good to see, and seemed (to me as a non-Jewish person; I'm very happy to be informed better by Jewish friends) to be well done. I really liked how the characters' faith tied into the theme of the book so explicitly (and the superhero nods were a good example of how to make a reference that's knowing/clear but also not going to throw a reader out of the story), but it was jarring every time to see the name the clearly-an-actual-hockey-fan writer had given the president. (And believe me, I am not a fan of that dude's team. It just left a bad taste in my mouth to use an easily recognisable sports rivalry figure's name for a deeply and unquestionably evil person.)
I tapped out on Andie Christopher's Brand New Bike because the tone was just not my thing at all; fans of a particular media empire may appreciate it more.
His Neighbour's Education by Jane Lee Blair I also struggled with a bit--it was solidly written and I liked the importance of their Christian faith to the characters; that all made sense for motivation and characterisation, but it was also tipped more towards a tone I'm not into and was really not for me.
(Also, I think I know what the author was trying to get at from a characterisation point of view, and there are ways to express that which are not offensive, but considering the way that the lack of separation of Church and State is being used to harm people in the USA right now, having your POV character state that she "wants to punch people who say there's no prayer in schools" was, uh, a poor reading of the room.)
firewhiskeyreader's review
5.0
A Brilliant Anthology
Cover Me by Olivia Dade is worth the price of this book by itself. But I really liked so many of these stories and it makes me want to get the rest of these anthologies but I’m on a book buying slow down and I don’t have enough slots available. Ahhhh.
Cover Me by Olivia Dade is worth the price of this book by itself. But I really liked so many of these stories and it makes me want to get the rest of these anthologies but I’m on a book buying slow down and I don’t have enough slots available. Ahhhh.
endemictoearth's review
4.0
Make You Mine - 4 stars
Personal Audition - 3.5 stars
Brand New Bike - 3.5 stars
Cover Me - 5 MILLION stars (Seriously, I love LOVE this story. Already re-read it, will be re-reading again.)
The Long Run - 4.5 stars
Never Again - 3 stars
His Neighbor's Education - 3 stars
Personal Audition - 3.5 stars
Brand New Bike - 3.5 stars
Cover Me - 5 MILLION stars (Seriously, I love LOVE this story. Already re-read it, will be re-reading again.)
The Long Run - 4.5 stars
Never Again - 3 stars
His Neighbor's Education - 3 stars
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